[G] Roach-Ling Revisited: Zerg vs Terran (HotS)

I will be releasing at least 6 new Zerg guides to serve as a starting point/reference for Zerg players making the transition to Heart of the Swarm.

I considered releasing one giant guide to avoid clutter of the TL forum, but as it grew larger it made more sense to structure the guides individually. To put it in a way we can all understand, the formatting of such a large guide was starting to look like a Marauder, and it's better to fight a Marauder with a few sets of Zerglings rather than one lone Roach. In fact, it will be helpful to continue thinking of these guides like Zerglings: they're compact, vicious, and if you learn how to use them, you will &^$%ing maul people.

You might ask why you should read a guide from me, what could I possibly offer that a professional like Day9 or Apollo can't? And I would say nothing except a different way of looking at things. We've all experienced SC2 differently - we've watched, played, read, studied, dare I say LIVED StarCraft through completely different eyes. I happen to have Swarm eyes:


The side-effects of Swarm eyes are well-documented, as all you brothers and sisters of the Swarm know. These include adrenal rushes (something to do with our glands), rapid-motion-syndrome (something to do with our hands), and an aggressive mentality (stepping where our opponent stands).

Now don't get me wrong - I respect my opponent, I think he or she is probably a great person, but I want all of their units on a stretcher - or more accurately still, I want their units to be eaten alive by my units, boosting their metabolism and making them stronger and faster, with hearts beating like hammers and claws dripping with of the blood of the fallen. I want my units to tear off the heads of SCVs and mount them on spikes, and mount the heads of Probes above the fireplace. When they're not injecting, I want Queens to throw darts at pictures of Marines and aim right for the groin. I want every inch of the map covered in creep, and I want to neural parasite an opponent's worker and build a Nexus or Command center just so I can produce workers and kill them until the map is mined out of resources.

I have not played the HotS campaign yet, but I hope it ends with the annihilation of the Protoss and Terran races, and I hope creep connects all the planets in a way that spells "All your bases are belonging to the Swarm" when looked at from space or a neighboring galaxy. . . . .

If this little exaggeration of my SC2 mindset hasn't persuaded you to read these guides, perhaps my experience in the community will. I have written and produced over 200 works of strategy content between tutorial videos and TeamLiquid guides. Some have been great contributions, some have been pretty meager and uninformative, but I've learned a lot from both the positive and negative feedback, and I've put in my time so to speak. I'm not a professional gamer, but as they say, "those that can't do... teach" and that's really what I aim to do.

My number one goal in producing these guides is to help readers improve, increasing the collective learning curve. The aggressive-themed strategies and builds that I've chosen are simply the cover of a much more deep and interesting book on Zerg mechanics and execution; many of the key points that are emphasized and repeated throughout the guides are universal skills that apply to other styles as well. Specific styles will evolve and change throughout the expansion as new units become more familiar, but the core fundamentals won't be as affected.

In short, while this introduction is rather long and exaggerated, the content of the guides will be concise and to-the-point. You can be sure that emphasized points are based on years of study, extensive coaching experience, genuine interest in your improvement, and appreciation for the time you've taken to read.

PS. Everyone should view this fantastic Youtube Video on ESports

Early Roach aggression in ZvT is a frequently used tactic that will become even stronger in HotS, and the reasons aren't surprising:

1) Roaches have always been good against Hellions, and Terran players still open with Hellions/Hellbats often.

2) Reaper openings have made a reappearance in HotS, and Roaches hold this type of aggression well.

3) The opportunity to counter-attack presents you with unique advantages, ie. map control that frees you to drone/tech/expand.

4) You can now research burrow from your Hatchery, which is a huge boost that we'll address later.

5) Once you get over 6 Roaches, focus-firing of buildings and SCVs become much easier.

Note that unmarked gains in Supply are Drones.

9Overlord



Consensus shows 9OL is generally preferred to other options. Get in the habit of rallying every Overlord that you produce immediately (fundamental mechanic), and consider even hotkeying your first two Overlords to practice moving between control groups that you might not usually use until later in the game (i.e. 2 and 3, or 6 and 7).
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15Hatchery



As soon as your Hatchery is started, set the rally points and add it to your control group (ie. if your main Hatchery is control group 4, click the expansion Hatchery hold Shift and press 4). The concept of adding units/buildings to already-existing control groups is a fundamental mechanic - if you repeat it, it becomes second nature and saves time.
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16Gas



Be conscious of the Drones you choose to build structures. For example, pick a Drone that is close to the gas where you're constructing. If you're pulling a Drone off mining to do this, make sure you don't touch your double-mining close patches!
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15Pool



Pull your Drone from a patch that's close to where you're building the Pool. Do it in advance (180~ minerals) so that you can produce it right when you reach 200 minerals. Sometimes rallying a constructing Drone to the location where you're planning to build a structure can time out correctly, but don't do it everytime to the point where structures get built late.
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14-17 Drones



Get in the habit of rallying these Drones to patches that are single-mining, and try to make sure they "stick" to double-mining the desired patches. Economy management is easier in HotS than in WoL, but that doesn't mean you can't squeeze out small advantages by ensuring all Drones mine right away instead of bouncing around.
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17Overlord



Rally this Overlord, like every other Overlord, right away, ideally you want to rally to locations that are safe from Marines and will let you see drops coming later in the game. For lower level players, it's even ok to safely rally them between your main and expansion, but it's important to develop the habit of rallying it somewhere.
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19Queenx2



You want to construct these Queens at the same time so you can inject at the same time. A tip to players who hotkey both Queens in the same control group: wait just a second or two before injecting when the Queens first spawn (Inject with 26-27 Energy). Otherwise you'll occasionally have that annoying thing happen where say your main Queen has 24 energy and your expansion Queen has 25, and your expansion Queen runs up to the main to inject and the rotation gets messed up.
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28 Roach Warren



By the time you're producing this Roach Warren, your main should be optimally saturated - 16 Drones, double-mining every patch. Once you reach 16 Drones in the main, rally both Hatcheries to your expansion, and choose the 17th Drone produced in the main to produce your Warren at 28 (that way you don't touch that optimal saturation in the main).
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28 Speed or Burrow



Either upgrade will finish before your Roaches arrive at your Opponent's base. If you get Zergling Speed, you'll plan to build some Zerglings after 44 Supply to add to the strength of your Roach push (Speedlings are so fast that they'll catch up to the Roaches). If you plan on getting both upgrades, opt for Speed before Burrow.
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28 Overlordx2



Both Overlords rallied to give more aerial map vision. Remove Drones from geyser after you reach 300 gas total mined, unless you plan on getting both Burrow and Speed in which case you need 400. Burrow is usually always a good investment, because you can delay his expansion by burrowing where the Command Center would go, and you can also burrow your Drones back at home if he comes in with Banshees, Hellions, or other nasties.
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28-44 Roaches



Should have 600 Minerals/200Gas to make 8 Roaches. Hotkey all Roach Eggs immediately! Make sure you're de-selecting any excess Larva so that you're Hotkeying only the Roaches. When you build the Overlords on 44, you should rally them somewhere right away and make sure they're NOT part of the Roach control group.
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44 Overlordx2



Speedlings Rallied to Roaches. It's a good idea to keep your Speedlings on a separate control group from your Roaches, though most of the micro is done with the Roaches (this will be explained in the "Execution" section).
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52~ Switch to Drones



Now you don't have to switch to Drones, you can produce Speedlings off 22~ Drones on 2 Hatcheries to apply additional pressure. Most times it is recommended that you start the transition at 52, as you can optimize the timing better if you keep the transition consistent.
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Build InAShell:
Fast Expand --> Gas/Pool --> Drones/Queens --> 28 Supply Warren --> Upgrade (Speed/Burrow) 2x Overlord --> 28-44 Supply Build 8 Roaches to Defend or Pressure, 2xOverlords at 44 --> Ling or Drone Production + Transition

Quick Review:
15Hatchery, 16Gas, 15Pool, 17 Overlord, 19 Queenx2, 28 Roach Warren, 28 Upgrade (Burrow or Speed), 28-44 Roaches, 44Overlordx2, 44-52 Drones or Lings (Depending on whether you get Burrow or Speed).

The two most important mechanics addressed so far (which must never be undervalued) are Overlord-Rallying and Shift-Adding to Control Groups. These are paramount, and if you don't understand either, re-read the Build section or ask for clarification in the comments below. Here are some other valuable tips and notes on Execution:
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Multitasking Macro/Micro:

I think a common misconception is that macro is vastly more important than micro, but it's important to remember one of the primary functions of good macro: to give you more time to manage your actual army! The majority of the time if your army is engaging, you should pay more attention to your forces than your base. That's why it's so important to work on your keyboard macro-mechanics so that while you engage, you continue producing units and adding them to the control group.

The Roach/Ling ZvT opening is amazing for improving your control-grouping mechanics because it forces you to look away from your base while maintaining production, and you should take advantage of this efficient way to practice and improve. When you produce your first 8 Roaches, you de-select excess Larva and add to a control group (Group 2). If you decide to produce Speedlings to reinforce, these should be added to a separate control group (Group 1). This way you can go between 1 and 2 to micro your Speedlings and Roaches, and you're improving the management of multiple army control groups, a skill crucial for the later stages of the game with Infestors, Broodlords, etc.

Researching Burrow at Hatchery means you can now have Burrow for your 7:15 Roach timing! This is well before Turrets and Ravens, so your opponent will have to use scans to detect. Also, Roaches regenerate HP pretty quickly while Burrowed, so if you're burrowing your weakened Roaches you can keep them alive for much longer. Even at an impenetrable wall of Depot/Bunker/SCVs, combining Burrow micro with SCV Focus-Firing will net you a LOT of worker kills. Then, when you're on the defensive against Hellions, Hellbats, or Banshees, you can burrow your Drones and Queens! It is an incredible benefit both for attacking and defending.

The Roach/Burrow opening is also great for improving casting-mechanics. Always set your first 8 Roaches in the same control group that you will later use for casters like Infestors (for me, it's 2). SO many players struggle with Infestor control, because having a separate control group for them makes it difficult to manage, but training this Roach/Burrow tactic can help you become accustomed to using casting units in this way.
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Set Shift-Rallies:

If you're on the offensive, quick reinforcements can decide whether you win a game, but a bit of a dilemma occurs because you want to spend as little time as possible organizing these reinforcements, and instead focus on your main army. It is amazingly helpful to shift-add every egg you produce to the respective control group, but it's impractical to think anyone is capable of doing this 100% of the time - it's easy to forget in the heat of battle, but nevertheless you need to get those reinforcements, so how do we fix this?

One common, but not ideal, method is rallying to your opponent's base, or just outside. But then you risk your units running in un-hotkeyed, and it's a huge problem when you retreat but forget to reset the rally. Another method is to rally onto a unit, like a Roach, which makes sense because then all reinforcements will run straight to that Roach. The problem here is if that Roach dies, you've lost the rally point, so reinforcements will just sit idle at each Hatchery unless you reset the rally point.

So I advise using the Shift-Rally method.


You set rally points to a ground location first, hold Shift and then right-click a Roach. The Shift-rally will follow the Roach, but if that Roach does, the Hatcheries are still rallied to the first location.



This makes things a lot easier because units won't "suicide" into your opponent's base because of a bad rally-point, and you won't have rally-points reset to idle at the Hatcheries either.


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Macro Catch-up Mode:

There is no one out there with perfect macro and multitasking, and there's no shame in missing injects or floating resources when you're being active with your units. But one way we can offset imperfection multitasking is to have a planned "Catchup-Up mode." By Catch-Up. I mean that when you fall behind in macro, you should have quick and clear steps laid out to get back on track fast. We may all have different opinions on what to prioritize, but make yourself a mental checklist like this:

1) Spend Larva
- The #1 reason that Zerg players float resources is because they sit for too long with more than three Larva. If you can't spend Larva during an engagement, make sure it's the first thing you do afterwards. Tip: When using Larva, avoid rapidly pressing the unit-key (Z, D, R, V etc), and instead hold down that key. If you're in even more of a rush to spend lots of Larva, you can hold down the key AND left-click with your mouse.

2) Over-Produce Overlords
- This goes hand-in-hand with Larva, but it's an important point. If you get blocked or minerals are really piling up, it's usually safe - even smart - to dump more-than-usual minerals into Overlords. Imagine a scenario: You're done building Drones on a well-saturated three-base economy, so you're producing LOTS of Roaches and Zerglings, but you get supply blocked with 4 Larva at the main, the natural, and the third that you can't spend on units. This is a great time to build some extra Overlords, not only because you'll need extra supply soon anyway, but also because you can spend some of that Larva. Tip: Instead of selecting all 4 Hatcheries and pressing the "v" key 6 times, select each Hatchery and build 2 Overlords at each - ensuring each Hatchery is below 3 Larva and still producing more.

3) Hit Injects
- I know you're sarcastically thinking "gee thanks for the tip, I had no idea I was supposed to inject", but when things slip, getting your inject-cycle back on track is supremely important. Extra energy can be used to spread creep or inject at your macro Hatcheries. Tip: Swap Queens with excess energy to the bases with macro Hatcheries. There's no point sitting with a 25 Energy Queen in the main and a 75 Energy Queen at the third - swap them so you can spend that excess energy double-injecting the main + macro hatch.

4) Macro-Hatcheries
- If you've done the above steps and you're still sitting with 1-2k minerals, start building Macro-Hatcheries. If at any point it starts to look like you won't need the extra production, you can cancel them, losing only 75 Minerals - there have been very few (if any) games in which the reason I've lost is because I built too many macro Hatcheries.
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General Notes on Style/Scouting/Variations:

You need a total of 300 gas (100 for upgrade, 200 for Roaches) to execute this attack. No matter what weird shenanigans happen early game (Expansion blocked by SCV-Building, Early 2-Rax pressure, etc.), you should try to aim for 300 gas mined and 22~ Drones with 2 Queens. IE. If you lose Drones or Queens early on, rebuild them. Don't cut your gas at 250 and go for a 6-Roach push off a 16-Drone economy! Just rebuild those Drones, get that 300 total gas, and hit a later timing with the same units - your opponent will be delayed too. There are many ways to alter this opening to suit your particular style:

To play an extra safe opening style: Send a Drone scout between 10 and 14 Supply before you start your expansion, cut Drones before the Pool finishes (16-17) and produce 4-6 Zerglings (or even more if pressed) as soon as the Pool is done. A Spinecrawler is also optional when the expansion finishes. If you are under significant early Marine pressure, you should remove Drones from gas. Tip: To players who struggle against 2-Rax, remember that keeping Drones alive is vastly more important than mining time. Pull more/all your workers to defend, at least until you can get a Spinecrawler or two places in range of his Bunkers.

To play a moderately safe style, send a Drone scout at least to the proxy-locations and then your closer Xel-Naga. When the Pool finishes, just build 1 Set of Lings to kill any single Marine/SCV on the map, as well as hold each Xel. The benefit of holding the Xel-Nagas as your Roaches come out is that he may not see your units until later.

To play a greedy style: The only scary timings that hit before Roaches come out involve 2-Barracks. If your first Overlord scouts an Expansion or a Gas Refinery, you shouldn't build any Zerglings. Defending with just Queens, you can survive 1-Rax pressure without producing any Zerglings most times, which lets you hit at the earliest time with your Roaches. After your Warren (28) is the time you should build a set of Lings to take the Xel-Nagas. (My preference). Example: See game against "AlwaysLose" in the "Proof" section of this guide.

To play this style more passively, you can delay your gas (15Hatch, 16Pool, 18Gas) and delay your warren (32~). Produce 4-6 Roaches instead and aim for a faster third. If you have some Speedlings, you can poke with your 4-6 Roaches - if you don't research speed and neglect Zerglings, you'll want to keep your Roaches back. This style lends itself better to producing a 3rd/4th Queen much earlier, as you'll want to connect your 3rd. Example: See game against "Barcode Terran" in the "Proof" section of this guide.

Tutorial

Roach-Ling Revisited Tutorial 1
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Replays

TangSC vs Barcode Terran - Defensive / Passive Roach-Ling vs Early Drops

TangSC vs AlwaysLose - Roach-Ling vs Heavy Reaper Opening
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Stream Highlights

Stream Game vs AlwaysLose

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